Post by imperfectgolfer on Jan 8, 2013 10:53:52 GMT -5
See this Jeffy-forum thread.
jeffygolf.com/showthread.php?554-Mitch-McDowell-Extreme-amounts-of-lateral-bend
Lifter is enamored of the idea of acquiring the maximum amount of lateral bend in his swing action and he admires Mitch McConnell who is capable of acquiring a lot of lateral bend.
One can see that he has acquired a considerable amount of lateral bend in his downswing action.
I can understand why long-drive competitors use this technique to stay in balance when they release PA#4 ultra-fast in their downswing. It also allows them to efficiently get the right shoulder downplane and it also allows them to maintain the forward momentum of the FLW in the late downswing secondary to push-pressure applied at PP#1 by the right palm during the active right arm straightening action.
However, I would worry about the probability of long-term damage to the right sided intervertebral facet joints secondary to that degree of lateral bend. It is well reported in the medical literature that there is a much higher incidence of arthritis in the right-sided intervertebral facet joints (compared to the left side) in golfers and I wouldn't be surprised if this medical problem is greater in golfers who use this "marked degree of lateral bend" technique.
Jeffy also always refers golfers to this KM article - www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/health_and_fitness/2010-05-second-magical-key-to-the-spine-engine-lumbar-lordosis.html
I think that it is one of KM's weakest articles, and he gets many things so wrong.
A couple of examples.
Lordosis of the lumbar spine.
It is defined medically as the extension of the lumbar spine in a sagittal plane, and it doesn't refer to any side-bending of the lateral side-of-the-torso.
So when KM draws these curves in the next two photos to show lordosis, that's factually incorrect.
Those drawn curves have nothing to with lordosis of the lumbar spine, and they happen due to the differential degree of rotation of the upper torso relative to the lower torso, combined with the degree of arch-extension of the spine that is happening at the same time.
KM even believes that there is right and left lordosis.
He makes this statement-: "Just before impact, a transformation begins to occur. The right side retains lordosis while the left side of the body begins to lose lordosis. This is absolutely critical!
The right side must retain the lordosis so that the gears remain connected and rotation can continue through the impact zone."
He uses this photo of Tiger at impact.
He is using the term "lordosis" incorrectly, and he is referring to the lateral side-bend of the mid-torso (which can be defined as the part of the torso between the 6th thoracic vertebra and the 2nd lumbar vertebra). It also a fallacy to believe that one cannot rotate the torso through impact unless one has that degree of right-sided lateral bend of the mid-torso.
Other major factual errors occur in this KM video on spine movements.
At 20 seconds, he claims that the interfacet joints are not yet connected - when the spine is in a slight/natural state of lumbar lordosis. That's factually incorrect. In that position, they are connected and they will resist any rotary movement at the level of each lumbar vertebra.
He then drives the lumbar spine into hyperextension to "supposedly" connect the interfacet joints and he then claims at 40 seconds that one can then rotate the entire spine due to that "locked" interfacet joint phenomenon. I disagree that his "claim" reflects reality. I think that the lumbar spine interfacet joints are basically locked - even in a state of natural lordosis and one doesn't have to hyperextend the lumbar spine to lock them more. Secondly, this interfacet joint "locking" phenomenon only applies to the lumbar spine, and even if the lumbar spine interfacet joints are "locked, it will only restrict the rotational mobility of the lumbar spine and not the thoracic spine. That is why golfers can generate torso-pelvic separation in their swing action - because they can rotate their thoracic spine far more than their lumbar spine. Bubba Watson particularly uses this torso-pelvic separation technique in his early downswing action - when he rotates his pelvis counterclockwise, but keeps his upper torso temporarily stationary.
At 1:25 minutes KM flexes the lumbar spine into a state of kyphosis, and he claims that it will "unlock" the interfacet joints and predispose to casting and flipping. I don't believe that one can significantly "unlock" the lumbar interfacet joints in "real life" because of the presence of many supportive ligaments around the joints. Secondly, why KM believes that it will cause casting and flipping is beyond my understanding!
Jeff.
jeffygolf.com/showthread.php?554-Mitch-McDowell-Extreme-amounts-of-lateral-bend
Lifter is enamored of the idea of acquiring the maximum amount of lateral bend in his swing action and he admires Mitch McConnell who is capable of acquiring a lot of lateral bend.
One can see that he has acquired a considerable amount of lateral bend in his downswing action.
I can understand why long-drive competitors use this technique to stay in balance when they release PA#4 ultra-fast in their downswing. It also allows them to efficiently get the right shoulder downplane and it also allows them to maintain the forward momentum of the FLW in the late downswing secondary to push-pressure applied at PP#1 by the right palm during the active right arm straightening action.
However, I would worry about the probability of long-term damage to the right sided intervertebral facet joints secondary to that degree of lateral bend. It is well reported in the medical literature that there is a much higher incidence of arthritis in the right-sided intervertebral facet joints (compared to the left side) in golfers and I wouldn't be surprised if this medical problem is greater in golfers who use this "marked degree of lateral bend" technique.
Jeffy also always refers golfers to this KM article - www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/health_and_fitness/2010-05-second-magical-key-to-the-spine-engine-lumbar-lordosis.html
I think that it is one of KM's weakest articles, and he gets many things so wrong.
A couple of examples.
Lordosis of the lumbar spine.
It is defined medically as the extension of the lumbar spine in a sagittal plane, and it doesn't refer to any side-bending of the lateral side-of-the-torso.
So when KM draws these curves in the next two photos to show lordosis, that's factually incorrect.
Those drawn curves have nothing to with lordosis of the lumbar spine, and they happen due to the differential degree of rotation of the upper torso relative to the lower torso, combined with the degree of arch-extension of the spine that is happening at the same time.
KM even believes that there is right and left lordosis.
He makes this statement-: "Just before impact, a transformation begins to occur. The right side retains lordosis while the left side of the body begins to lose lordosis. This is absolutely critical!
The right side must retain the lordosis so that the gears remain connected and rotation can continue through the impact zone."
He uses this photo of Tiger at impact.
He is using the term "lordosis" incorrectly, and he is referring to the lateral side-bend of the mid-torso (which can be defined as the part of the torso between the 6th thoracic vertebra and the 2nd lumbar vertebra). It also a fallacy to believe that one cannot rotate the torso through impact unless one has that degree of right-sided lateral bend of the mid-torso.
Other major factual errors occur in this KM video on spine movements.
At 20 seconds, he claims that the interfacet joints are not yet connected - when the spine is in a slight/natural state of lumbar lordosis. That's factually incorrect. In that position, they are connected and they will resist any rotary movement at the level of each lumbar vertebra.
He then drives the lumbar spine into hyperextension to "supposedly" connect the interfacet joints and he then claims at 40 seconds that one can then rotate the entire spine due to that "locked" interfacet joint phenomenon. I disagree that his "claim" reflects reality. I think that the lumbar spine interfacet joints are basically locked - even in a state of natural lordosis and one doesn't have to hyperextend the lumbar spine to lock them more. Secondly, this interfacet joint "locking" phenomenon only applies to the lumbar spine, and even if the lumbar spine interfacet joints are "locked, it will only restrict the rotational mobility of the lumbar spine and not the thoracic spine. That is why golfers can generate torso-pelvic separation in their swing action - because they can rotate their thoracic spine far more than their lumbar spine. Bubba Watson particularly uses this torso-pelvic separation technique in his early downswing action - when he rotates his pelvis counterclockwise, but keeps his upper torso temporarily stationary.
At 1:25 minutes KM flexes the lumbar spine into a state of kyphosis, and he claims that it will "unlock" the interfacet joints and predispose to casting and flipping. I don't believe that one can significantly "unlock" the lumbar interfacet joints in "real life" because of the presence of many supportive ligaments around the joints. Secondly, why KM believes that it will cause casting and flipping is beyond my understanding!
Jeff.